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Old 08-05-2021, 06:51 PM   #1
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Boost Switch Help Itasca 324F

Howdy All,

I need some help in locating where the battery boost switch gets power from the fuse panel under the dash of our Ford F450 chassis. It is for a 2004 Itasca Spirit 24F.

I have the wiring diagrams downloaded and have tracked the LR power wire from the battery boost switch to the solenoid. I purchased a new solenoid and it tests good on the bench but I can never get power to the yellow solenoid trigger wire. It is not working with the battery boost switch or with the engine running.

I have chased the wires up under the drivers side of the dash but I can’t seem to locate where it gets power from. I assume it is the fuse box but it is so darn hard to see under there. I searched the wiring diagrams on the Winnie website and can trace the wire to the boost switch but there is no documentation I can find that shows which fuse or relay it plugs in to.

Can anyone offer me some advice on where the battery boost switch trigger wire gets its power?

Thank you!
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Old 08-05-2021, 08:41 PM   #2
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Looking at the Body, 12 Volt Wiring Diagram for your coach on the lower right corner of page 3 of the pdf you can see the Battery Boost Switch. The wire labelled KE supplies run-only power to that switch and should be connected to LR by the switch in its normal position. (See the Wiring Identification Guide to translate wire labels to their functions.)
KE / 14 YEL RUN ONLY POWER SOURCE GENERAL PURPOSE(RELAY TRIGGER, REAR AUTO HTR, DRL, MONITOR, ETC
When the Battery Boost Switch is momentarily depressed it should connect LS to LR instead.
LS / 12 YEL OVERCURRENT PROTECTION 20A BREAKER TYPICAL,COACH FEED GENERAL PURPOSE(BATTERY MODE, RADIO POWER,BATTERY CONDITION
The wire KE connects to the Ford Chassis run-only power circuit, as can be seen in the diagram just to the right of the Battery Boost Switch.

Looking at the Chassis Wiring Installation diagram, page 2 of the pdf shows the Chassis Breaker Panel on the side of the frame rail between the right rear wheels and the entry steps. This then refers to Sheet 4, Detail DA which can be found on page 5 of the pdf. Looking at Details DA, DE, and DC on that page you can see that the wire KE is connected to the 6A breaker labelled ELECTRIC STEP IGNITION POWER and the wire LS is connected to the 6A breaker labelled BATTERY MODE SWITCH.
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Old 08-05-2021, 10:27 PM   #3
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Thank you very much Cbeierl, in the morning I will verify there is power at both of the circuit breakers you listed. I did verify the were all seated but I did not check them with them meter yet.

I was trying to find where the Ford run only power circuit gets it’s power from. I would assume power comes from the Ford fuse box but maybe it comes all the way from the circuit breaker for the electric step?

I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help me.
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Old 08-05-2021, 10:34 PM   #4
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A couple of pics of my 2007 31C brkr panel (that Chris mentioned) are shown below ..... thinking yours is probably very similar. If you have replaced the boost solenoid, you have probably already been there though. I agree about the "contortionist" req't ...... it's just plain tight in behind there where the latching sol and the boost sol are located. Hopefully a CB reset gets things going for you.

Good luck with the fix.

On Edit: Oops.....I see you were typing while I was. Yup-you have already been there.
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Old 08-05-2021, 10:42 PM   #5
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I see on page 2 detail AB that it looks like KE gets power from fuse number 2 on the Ford under dash fuse panel. I checked the fuse this afternoon and it was good, but I had no way to verify the connection at the back of the fuse panel.
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Old 08-06-2021, 11:19 AM   #6
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Just a quick update, there is no power at wire KE or WH on the breaker panel. I am still trying to find the purple/ white wire that provides power from the Chassis. Fuse 2 was rechecked and was good.

Z
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Old 08-06-2021, 04:07 PM   #7
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Howdy All,

So after hours of trouble shooting here is where I am. The battery boost portion of the relay is working when you hold the switch to boost, but I still cannot get it to work with the engine running to charge the batteries. I disassembled the switch on the dash and there is no voltage at line KE with the engine running. There has to be a fuse somewhere that is popped for the Ford run only circuit.

Does anyone know where it might be?

I also took apart the connector for the steps and the two other yellow wires have 12 volts but, KE does not.

Line KE measures 2.3M ohms and zero volts to ground at the switch and at the relay in the storage area.

Any ideas?
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Old 08-06-2021, 06:16 PM   #8
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Flight Test-

The way I read Ford's documentation, the Ford ignition circuit goes through the trailer battery charge relay, of all things! There are two fuses and one relay involved in that circuit:

1) Fuse #15 on the Ford Passenger Compartment Fuse Panel (the one under the dash). It's a 5A fuse.
2) Fuse #8 on the Ford Power Distribution Box (the one under the hood). It's a 40A fuse.
3) Relay E on the Ford Power Distribution Box.

Layouts of the boxes are available on pages 150-155 of the 2004 E-450 owner's manual (link here). Additional information at the 2004 Ford Body Builder Layout Book, pages 181-186 (link here). Note: Page numbers are per the manual or BBLB; the page numbers by Adobe PDF reckoning may be different.
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Old 08-06-2021, 07:35 PM   #9
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Thank you so much l1v3fr33ord1,

It took me awhile to figure out your Handle, but it is definitely a good one!

I really appreciate you taking time to help me out. I have checked the big blade fuse at #8 and it was good but I will dig into the under dash fuse box and try to dig out fuse 15. For the life of me I just can’t imagine a much worse place to put a fuse panel deep under the dash of a van with no driver leg room to fit under there.

My plan will be to swap out the relay if the fuse is ok.

I really appreciate the body builder layout book, I did not have that in my reference library. What a great add.

I sure missed the reference to the trailer battery charge fuse when I was looking at the Itasca schematic.

Thanks again, I will send try to send out an update tomorrow.
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Old 08-07-2021, 02:42 AM   #10
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Battery boos switches are not designed to be used continuously for battery charging, they are momentary switches only for connecting both battery banks together for emergency starting.
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Old 08-07-2021, 03:18 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray,IN View Post
Battery boos switches are not designed to be used continuously for battery charging, they are momentary switches only for connecting both battery banks together for emergency starting.
Baah...its not the switch it is the solenoid that it controls. Thousands of RVs use continuous duty boost solenoids (actually formally battery isolation solenoids) to charge both house and chassis banks. The real issue is heat buildup when connected to shore power for weeks or months at a time. A good, continuous duty Cole Hersee solenoid will last for years.
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Old 08-07-2021, 05:12 AM   #12
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I had a E450 and the isolation/boost solenoid FUSE was out near the alternator.

Strange location and the fuse had a cap over it. The Ford wiring changed to MH wiring at that point and then went to the solenoid.
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Old 08-07-2021, 07:36 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray,IN View Post
Battery boos switches are not designed to be used continuously for battery charging, they are momentary switches only for connecting both battery banks together for emergency starting.
As designed the (typical) Winnebago Battery Boost switch activates the battery boost solenoid via a chassis run-only power source in its normal resting position. When momentarily depressed the switch activates the solenoid via an always-on power source. This means that the battery banks are connected together whenever the engine is running (or the switch is depressed).

(Note that some more recent coaches may have a Battery Isolation Manager or other smart electronics to handle this function instead.)
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Old 08-08-2021, 09:10 AM   #14
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Howdy All,

So I crawled under the dash looking for fuse 15 that is supposed to power the trailer battery charging relay, and guess what, the slot was empty with no fuse. I was super excited that my quest to get the coach batteries to charge engine running would be over. Unfortunately putting a new fuse in did not fix the problem. So next I swapped out the trailer battery charge relay in the Distribution box ( which was present). After that I still had no power and no clicking relay.

So next I climbed back under the dash to try and feel where the yellow coach wires fed into the back of the fuse box. By touch it felt like it was somewhere in the top left quadrant so I just started pulling out every fuse to see if I could find something blown. After several attempts I finally pulled fuse 12 ( back up lamps) and it was blown. I did not have too much confidence that back up lamps would fix it, but swapped it out and gave it a try. Well as soon as I turned the key I heard the clunk of the relay! So in the end it was a blown back up lamps fuse in slot 12 that fixed my chassis battery charging issue.

I really appreciate all the help and support from all of you in getting this figured out.
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